Six men arrested in Vietnam for killing and eating endangered monkey on Facebook live-stream
- Six men, aged 35 to 59, filmed themselves with a mobile phone eating a live langur monkey and streamed it on Facebook on November 17
The trafficking and consumption of rare and endangered species is widespread in Vietnam as many still believe in the healing and medicinal qualities of the animals’ body parts. But the sale of the animals occurs on the black market, and consumers rarely broadcast the killing and eating of the creatures, which are protected under the Southeast Asian nation’s conservation laws.
“It took time for us to figure out the suspects involved,” said a police officer in central Ha Tinh province.
The men have been accused of violating regulations on protecting “endangered and precious animals” and they confessed to the crime, said a statement posted on Ha Tinh provincial police’s website. One of the men had bought the monkey off a hunter for US$49, said the statement.
